Chapter #140

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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic II +
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+ The various characters contained in these writings are +
+ copyright 1993 by Thomas Miller. Any resemblance to any +
+ persons or characters either real or fictional is utterly +
+ coincidental. Copying and/or distribution of these tales +
+ is permissible only under the sole condition that no part +
+ of them will be used or sold for profit. In that case, I +
+ hope you enjoy them... +
+ +
+ Thomas Miller +
+ tmiller@cimmeria.gatech.edu +
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+ THE PARTY: +
+ +
+ Alindyar 15th level drow elf mage (N) +
+ Lyra 12th level female drow elf mage (N) +
+ Belphanior 12th/13th/13th level high elf w/m/t (CN) +
+ Ged 13th/13th level grey elf priest/mage (NG) +
+ Arnold 11th level human warrior (NG) +
+ ? grey cat (familiar) (NG) +
+ Mongo 15th level dwarf warrior (CG) +
+ Flint 11th level dwarf warrior (CG) +
+ Peldor 18th level human thief (N) +
+ Rillen 15th level human warrior (N) +
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+ WITH SPECIAL GUEST STARS: +
+ +
+ Belphanior-2 15th level elven ranger (LN) +
+ Sparky extremely large wolf (N) +
+ Peldor-2 18th level human thief (N) +
+ Rillen-2 13th level human ninja (N) +
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+ Date: several days after arrival +
+ Time: midday +
+ Place: the fortress of the evil Ged, in an alternate +
+ dimension +
+ Climate: warm indoors, cold outside +
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+ "Very few things happen at the right time and the rest +
+ do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will +
+ correct these defects." +
+ Herodotus, c. 454 B.C. +
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CXL. Fire! Fire! Fire!
That half of the party which includes Mongo, the two drow,
and both Peldors has explored a sewer, beaten a monstrous
alligator, and is even now climbing a ladder which takes
them up through the ceiling.
Rillen-2: (leading the way) It grows warm.
Mongo: No shit. (he sweats as he climbs in his plate mail)
Flint: Let's hope we don't run into a fire beast or some
such thing.
Lyra: I thought you liked fire.
Flint: Not _that_ much.
Alindyar: (near the back of the ascending group) Perhaps
levitation would have been in order.
Peldor-2: Bah. Levitation is the route of the unable.
Peldor: ...in addition to being one of the more basic
spells of Peldor. (being the last of the climbers, he
looks downward)
Alindyar: Truly you are mad.
Peldor-2: Me?
Peldor: Or me?
Alindyar: Agh.
Lyra: (muttering) Both.
Alindyar: Can it be said that two fools have but _half_
the brainpower of one?
Lyra: It could.
Alindyar: Such would be an inverse-square relationship...
Lyra: Square?
Peldor-2: (busying himself by looking up at Lyra's bottom)
Looks round to me...
The ladder became enclosed by a round pipe, and eventually,
the seven emerged from this, stepping into a curved corridor.
As they walked along the passage, the adventurers realized
that the passage was circular, which implied that there was
probably a large, round room in the middle.
Alindyar: Indeed.
Mongo: (looks at the drow) Who are you talking to?
Sure enough, they quickly found one, then another door on
the inner wall of the circular passage.
Flint: (produces some chalk) I knew this would come in
handy someday. (he makes a mark on the wall) Let's walk
along and see what we can see.
Alindyar: Hmm, useful.
Five minutes and two doors later (for a total of four),
they were back at the chalk mark, having circumnavigated
the entire corridor.
Mongo: Well, let's check out one of those doors.
Peldor: Which one?
Peldor-2: Any one, of course.
Rillen-2: (failing to sweat despite the increased heat in
this passage)
Alindyar: (ponders the implications of being a ninja)
They entered one of the four doors, and beheld a truly
spectacular sight. There was indeed a large, round chamber
inside the circular corridor. Besides being a hundred feet
in diameter, the room extended hundreds of feet above and
below. A series of catwalks crisscrossed the large space,
and far below, another network of catwalks was visible -
this level was nothing more than a slice of a huge, tall
cylindrical chamber. Farther below, under the other series
of walkways, the distinctive glow of molten lava was visible
even from this far up.
In the center of this gigantic room was a smaller cylinder
of metal, perhaps twenty feet in diameter. The catwalks led
to a circular ledge which surrounded this smaller pipe. At
intervals (both above and below the group's current level)
were smaller pipes, branching out of the central one and
disappearing into the walls. One such pipe ran over their
heads at an angle, and a valve-like apparatus was within
reach, closer to the central pipe.
Alindyar: Fascinating. Most fascinating.
Mongo: Yeah, it is. Looks like they've got a lava pipe
system set up here.
Peldor: What for?
Alindyar: Art thou _truly_ a fool? A system such as this
harnesses the power of lava flows deep within the earth,
to provide heat. Possibly power as well...(rubs his chin
thoughtfully)
Lyra: (wonders how deep the shaft must be in order to tap
volcanic power under a lake)
Mongo: This is the kind of thing that the great dwarven
cities of legend had...
Alindyar: Aye.
Lyra: This evil Ged must be a genius.
Mongo: Nah. I bet he had some dwarf build this setup for
him. They always do, you know.
Flint: Like that other Mongo, maybe.
Mongo: Yeah, like...hmm. He didn't seem _that_ smart...
Rillen-2: Maybe we should try to sabotage this.
Lyra: Maybe we should do something. Those prisoners below
won't stay put for much longer...
Peldor: (heads for the valve) This is usually Belphanior's
type of doing, but since he's not here...(he gets out of
the way of the nozzle and grabs the valve knob)
Mongo: Wait-
Peldor: (his hands burned, he backs off) OW! Aagh! That
thing's HOT! (he stares at his blistered hands)
Lyra: Fool.
Peldor-2: (to Peldor) That _was_ pretty stupid, you know.
(he digs in his belt pouch and produces some heavy cloth
gloves, putting them on)
Mongo: What are those?
Peldor-2: Why, they're indestructible gloves. Don't you
know anything? (he grabs the valve knob, and amazingly
enough, the gloves don't even get singed) They're totally
resistant to cutting, burning, freezing, acid...you name
it.
Peldor: Want to sell those?
Peldor-2: Not a chance. Of course, one could theoretically
attempt to _steal_ them from me...
Rillen-2: Enough prattle. Open the thing.
Peldor-2: Right. (he prepares to do so)
Peldor: (points to the nozzle) Watch out for that.
Peldor-2: Uh, right. (he gets out of the way, and then
turns the valve)
A dribble of molten lava came out of the nozzle, and hit
the catwalk, sizzling as it slowly melted the steel.
Peldor-2: Whee. (closes the valve)
Alindyar: This proves two things.
Mongo: And what are those?
Alindyar: One: yonder lava is exceedingly hot. Two: the
pipe at this chamber's center is much stronger than steel.
Flint: Hurrah.
Alindyar: (smiles smugly)
Lyra: (watching the lava as it melts a hole in the catwalk
and drops through, into the cavernous space below) Hope
no one's down there...
Peldor: (spots some moving figures on the catwalks far
below) Uh...
Rillen-2: I fail to see the usefulness of this nozzle, save
the possibility of aiming it at foes who should happen to
turn up right at this moment.
As if on cue, a second of the four doors into this area
flew open, admitting a quartet of dwarves armed in crimson
plate mail. They hefted large battle axes as they charged
the party, death in their eyes.
red dwarf #1: Get 'em!
Mongo: Uh, guys...why are you-
red dwarf #2: Quiet, you!
red dwarf #3: We have our orders - any who don't belong
in the furnace area are to be slain!
red dwarf #4: And that means you!
Alindyar: Red dwarves. Fascinating. The astrology texts
never mentioned anything like this...
Mongo: Quit babbling and DO something! (he hurls his war-
hammer in the direction of the charging dwarves)
Alindyar: Right. (he follows Lyra's example and begins
spellcasting)
Rillen-2: (produces several small, glinting objects from
somewhere)
Flint: (stands his ground in front of Mongo, effectively
blocking the catwalk for now) No one's gonna move ME...
Peldor-2: (goes invisible)
Peldor: (uses his hat of disguise to disguise himself as
a red-armored dwarf) Hey, everyone look at me!
red dwarf #1: What the hell? (he gets whacked by Mongo's
sailing hammer) Argh! (he stumbles, flirting with the
catwalk's edge before regaining his balance) Whoa!
Mongo: (catches his hammer) You'd better pay attention
to the people who can beat you, rather than fools.
red dwarf #1: Good advice. (he hurls his axe, and the
wepaon bursts into flames as it whirls at Mongo)
Mongo: Wha- (he takes a hit in the chest, which dents
his armor and sprays flame everywhere) Ugh! That HURT!
red dwarf #1: (grins evilly as his axe returns to his
hand) What, did ya think it was gonna tickle?!? Ha ha!
Mongo: (wiping gibbets of flame from his armor) Cripes.
Peldor: Look on the bright side - if he lops your arm
off, the wound'll be instantly cauterized!
Mongo: Oh, cheer me up some more, why don't you?!?
red dwarf #2: (chops at Flint, and their axes meet with
a clanging sound) Die!
Lyra: (casts a Cone of Cold) Take that!
red dwarf #3: (ducks, narrowly missing being walloped by
the magical frost and ice) Crap! Look out, Bart!
red dwarf #4: Huh? <WHAP> (he gets blasted, and quickly
becomes sheathed in snow and ice)
Lyra: White dwarf.
Alindyar: (casts Darkness, 15' Radius upon red dwarf #4)
red dwarf #3: (near the center of the darkness, he finds
himself suddenly unable to see) What the hell...? (he
manages to find the edge of the catwalk, and the empty
air beyond) WhaaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa...(he falls to the
lava far below, and is burned to a crisp)
Alindyar: Black dwarf.
Flint: (exchanging blows with red dwarf #2) You're not
getting by me!
red dwarf #2: We'll see about that, bucko!
Mongo: (notices that his beard is singed) Now that does
it! Now I'm PISSED! (he hurls his hammer at the leader
again)
red dwarf #1: Fu- (he takes a direct hit in the head, and
staggers backwards) Uh...ah...oh...(he teeters, and falls
off of the catwalk) ...shiiiiiiiiit! (like his erstwhile
companion, he too is fried)
Mongo: (catches his hammer) So much for HIM.
red dwarf #4: (recovering from the cone of cold, he finds
himself in the darkness too) Huh...did my eyes freeze
over?
Rillen-2: (using his skills to pinpoint the foe's location
amidst the dark zone, he hurls some metal blades into the
darkness, eliciting cries of pain from the dwarf)
red dwarf #4: Argh! Ugh! Ogh!
Peldor-2: (invisible, and having used his earring of flying
to get onto the catwalk behind the foe) Boo! (he kicks
the dwarf, sending him over the edge)
red dwarf #4: (surrounded by a sphere of darkness, he falls)
Aaaaaaaaa.....
Peldor-2: Can you fly? (watching the flare of fire far
below as the dwarf hits the lava and is roasted) Hmm,
guess not.
Peldor: (stares at his now-visible lookalike) How'd you
do that?
Rillen-2: (draws his sword and approaches Flint and the
last dwarf) Skill.
Peldor-2: Hey, you shouldn't have thrown those! I was in
the darkness too!
Rillen-2: I know.
Flint: (handily dispatches his foe, whose skill with the
axe is decidedly inferior to his own)
red dwarf #2: (falls, and rolls off the edge)
Mongo: Guess they all had the hots or something.
The party bound their relatively minor wounds and thought
about which route to take next. Before they arrived at a
decision, one was made for them, as a gargantuan form rose
up from below.
Mongo: What's THAT?!?
Peldor: Looks like a fire monster to me...
Alindyar: An elemental, perhaps...but fifty feet tall?!?
Lyra: And growing?!?
Flint: Neat!
Peldor-2: (watches as one of the four catwalks is melted
by the creature's ascension) Uh...maybe we'd better get
off these catwalks...unless all of you can fly?
Rillen-2: Ninjitsu is powerful, but not that powerful.
fire-thing: (melting a second of the four catwalks as it
floats toward the party) Sssss... (its bottom half or
"tail" stretches down into the lava hundreds of feet
below)
Flint: Geez, that thing's big! (like most of the group,
he is backing up toward the door corresponding to this
catwalk, which is now beginning to sag due to two major
parts of it being melted away)
Mongo: Let's see how it likes my hammer! (he hurls the
weapon at the fire-thing)
The hammer never came back.
next time : We leave all this excitement to check up on
the others...
notes : Is Mongo's hammer melted? Will the fools run
or fight? What in the world IS that fire-thing
anyway?
Guess what, folks? Since I'm making this part
up as I go along, the future isn't set in stone.
That means that YOU can contribute ideas and
feedback that might be used in later episodes!
This doesn't mean that you'll definitely get to
me in time for a given episode's publication,
but it's worth a try, if you're quick, since I
almost always wait at least a day or two between
postings.
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